Captain Joseph William McConnell, acting Major of the 1st Battalion, 101st Infantry, 26th Division, was killed in action, September 12, 1918, at St. Mihiel, France. In 1914, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 9th Massachusetts Infantry, and had been in service on the Mexican Border in 1916 as First Lieutenant in Company A, 9th Massachusetts Infantry, the rank that he held when war was declared. With his regiment, which became the 101st Infantry, he entered the Federal service in April, 1917, as First Lieutenant, Company A, and sailed from New York for France, September 8, 1917. He was made Captain the following month, and fought in the battle of Chateau-Thierry in July, 1918 and at St. Mihiel in September as Acting Major in command of the 1st Battalion. A member of his regiment states that at Chateau-Thierry, Captain McConnell was called upon to take command of the leading battalion, and, having anticipated the German plan of defense, checkmated it without great loss of life among his men. On the first day of the St. Mihiel Drive he issued orders to the flanking platoons to take cover from the machine gun fire, while he himself took the post of danger in the center. He remained at the top of the communicating trench in order to see that all was in readiness for the next stage of the ad-vance, and just as he had stepped into the trench, a shell from an ".88" struck him high in the breast, killing him instantly. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and it cites as follows:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Captain (Infantry) Joseph W. McConnell, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 101st Infantry Regiment, 28th Division, A.E.F., in Trugny Woods, France, 20 July 1918. While commanding the 1st Battalion, 101st Infantry, Captain McConnell encountered concentrated enemy machine-gun fire. Without regard for his own personal safety he reconnoitered in person in advance of his own lines, and located heavily entrenched machine-gun positions. Returning he so directed the fire of his own battalion that it and the elements on the right and left were able to advance. He led his battalion successfully through the attack and by his coolness and leadership was an inspiration to his men. Captain McConnell was killed in action on 12 September 1918.
General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 17 (1928)